Write a short note on Cabinet Mission Plan.

Ans. Cabinet Mission Plan - 

With the aim of satisfying the Indians, the Cabinet Mission comprising of three members (Lord Pethick Lawrence, Sir Stafford Cripps and A. V. Alexander) arrived in India on 23 March, 1946. The mission reached Delhi on 24 March. After discussions with Indian leaders, on 16 May the mission published its plan for resolving the Indian problem. 

The main points of this plan were:

• 1. Formation of a Union - A union of states would be established in India, comprising of the provinces of British India and the princely states. This union would manage the departments of foreign affairs, defense and communications and would have the right to collect necessary finances for the management of these departments. 

• 2. Union's Executive and Legislature - The executive and legislature of the union would have representatives from both British India and the princely states. No proposal in the federal legislature would be passed without the consent of the majority of the representatives of the community concerned with that proposal.

• 3. Residual Powers - Provinces would have jurisdiction over residual powers. 

• 4. Rights of Princely States - Princely states would get all those rights that they did not cede to the union government.

• 5. Grouping of Provinces - Provinces would have the right to form separate groups for their administrative affairs. These groups would have their own executives and legislatures and each group would determine which subjects would have joint administration in the provincial list. Thus three groups would be formed in total. 
• (i) would comprise Madras, Bombay, United Provinces, Central Provinces, Bihar and Orissa. 
• (ii) would comprise North West Frontier Province, Punjab and Sindh. 
• (iii) would comprise Bengal and Assam.

• 6. Formation of Constituent Assembly - A Constituent Assembly would be formed to frame a constitution for the Indian Union, which would have 295 representatives from British India and a maximum of 93 from the princely states. The representatives of British India would be elected by the lower houses of the provincial legislatures through proportional representation. The representatives of the princely states would be nominated after consultation. 

• 7. Interim Government - With the cooperation of representatives of major political parties, an interim government would be formed which would function under the presidency of the Viceroy. 

• 8. Treaty - The Constituent Assembly would make a treaty with the British Government, thereby confirming the above proposals. After transfer of power, it would not be possible for the British Government to retain paramountcy over the Indian princely states. 

Congress' reaction to the Plan:

Congress did not accept this plan and cited the following reasons for rejecting it: 

• 1. Weak Union - The union was deliberately kept weak in this plan as the union's jurisdiction was limited only to defense, foreign affairs and communications. 

• 2. Grouping of Provinces - Dividing the provinces into separate groups of three would result in the division of India into three parts, which would harm the unity of the country. 

• 3. Faulty division of Provinces - The division of provinces in this plan was unscientific. Assam had a Hindu majority but clubbing it with Bengal was wrong. Despite Muslim League's majority, the Muslims of North West Frontier Province were with the Congress and not the League. Therefore, putting North West Frontier Province with Punjab and Sindh against the wishes of the people there was improper. 

• 4. Interim Government - The plan for an interim government was also not liked by the Congress. 

League's reaction to the Plan: 

The League said that this plan did not fully meet the demand for Pakistan. 

Sikhs' reaction to the Plan:

The Sikhs said that this plan considered only the interests of Hindus and Muslims, ignoring the interests of Sikhs.

Despite the above criticisms, almost all parties accepted this plan. Each party wanted to use it as a means to achieve its objectives. On 6 June 1946, the plan was accepted by the Muslim League and on 14 June 1946, it was accepted by the Congress.